A case of De Garengeot's hernia with acute appendicitis and literature review

A rare case of De Garengeot hernia: CT findings

We report a case of "De Garengeot's hernia" (DGH), a rare condition that occurs when the inflamed appendix is localized inside a femoral hernia. The appendix may be involved in inflammatory or necrotic processes and the treatment is emergency surgery. It is usually discovered by chance during surgery. It occurs in 0.5%-5% of all femoral hernias. In 0.08%-0.13% of cases, the appendix can present inflammatory or necrotic processes due to the narrowness of the neck of the femoral canal; in these cases, an emergency surgery is required through a no standard surgical procedure. In the other cases, it is usually found accidentally during surgical repair of the hernia or more rarely diagnosed preoperatively by CT. Therefore, the purpose of our study is to report a case of DGH describing CT main findings in order to improve the preoperative diagnosis.

Strangulated femoral hernia with appendicitis: A rare case of De Garengeot's hernia

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

De Garengeot hernia is a rare case of a femoral hernia. It occurs when a femoral hernia contains a vermiform appendix that may be inflamed and sometimes necrotic, and this requires emergency surgery. However, the hernia is usually discovered by chance in the operating theater, which poses an additional challenge for surgeons.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 64-year-old man presented with a 1-week history of a painful right groin lump. The lump is irreducible and painful on exert a week ago. Ultrasound imaging showed a 1.5 × 2 cm loculated turbid liquid collection containing an edematous intestinal loop measuring 8 mm in diameter that was suspected to be the vermiform appendix. Therefore, appendectomy was performed through the hernia sac. After that, the hernia was repaired using the McVay technique and 2.0 nylon sutures. One day after the operation, the patient was discharged, and he returned to the clinic after 10 days without any complications.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION

The patient has a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a risk factor for a hernia. He had to live with the right femoral hernia for ten years until it became painful and irreversible. Ultrasound revealed what appears to be an appendix. To avoid possible consequences of complicated appendicitis and strangulated hernia, emergency surgery was the appropriate choice for our patient case.

CONCLUSION

The presence of an appendix in the femoral hernia poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to surgeons, due to the atypical clinical picture and the lack of efficacy of radiographic methods in diagnosing the condition.

De Garengeot’s hernia: case report

Introduction: De Garengeot hernia is an entity mainly diagnosed intraoperatively. It is more frequently observed in women and is defined as the presence of the vermiform appendix inside to femoral hernia. Most femoral hernias are identified based on clinical diagnosis, but diagnostic imaging is necessary for confirmation. Ultrasound, for example, is a valuable tool to characterize the anatomy of the hernia and its content, and to establish surgical planning. Case presentation: A 75-year-old woman attended the general surgery department of a high complexity hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, due to a painful mass in the right inguinal region. The initial ultrasound study showed a femoral hernia containing the incarcerated appendix and periappendiceal fluid in the hernial sac. The patient developed chronic appendiceal inflammation, so she underwent femoral hernia repair with mesh and appendectomy without complications, achieving a satisfactory recovery. Conclusion: Clinical examination may be sufficient to confirm the presence of a hernia in a large number of cases when the diagnostic approach involves the search of inguinal masses with pain. However, to facilitate surgical planning, diagnostic imaging, especially ultrasound with high resolution transducers, is the primary tool to characterize the type of hernia and the contents of the hernial sac.

De Garengeot hernia masquerading as a painless groin lump: a case report

De Garengeot’s hernia is a rare subtype of femoral hernia in which the appendix is located within the herniated sac. These cases are important to report as both the diagnosis and treatment are quite challenging. We present a case of a 68-year-old gentleman with few months history of a lump in the right groin that gave him mild discomfort but no other symptoms. Initial investigations with an ultrasound did not prove to be helpful and so a plan was made to surgically explore the lump. The appendiceal tip was incarcerated within the hernial sac. The appendix was removed using an open inguinal incision with repair of the defect using a light weight partially absorbable mesh. It is important to consider the possibility of a De Garangeot’s Hernia as a differential diagnosis for patients presenting with a groin lump.

De Garengeot hernia: a rare case in an elderly woman and a review of operative approaches

De Garengeot hernia is a rare finding of the vermiform appendix inside a femoral hernia sac. We report this occurrence in a 73-year-old woman who presented in the acute setting. There are no standardised surgical approaches and many different techniques have been described in case reports in the literature. We conducted a literature review of and found a total of 113 cases with addition of our case 114 unique cases were included for analysis. Inguinal incision was most cited (n=89). Concomitant laparotomy was needed in 13 patients, however, the association between type of incision and additional laparotomy was not significant (p>0.05). Laparoscopic surgery alone was performed in eight patients. Nine patients had hybrid surgery. The most common hernia repair was through suture technique with non-absorbable material (n=31). Mesh repair was used in 28 cases. More laparoscopic surgeries were done when the disease was diagnosed preoperatively (7/39, p<0.05).

The De Garengeot hernia: A case report of an unusual presentation of appendicitis

•

DeGarengeot hernia is still defined as a rare entity in the literature.

•

There is no uniform consensus on surgical management of this rare entity.

•

Surgical management can be tailored on a case-by-case basis.

Introduction

A De Garengeot hernia is defined by a femoral hernia containing the appendix. Acute appendicitis within a femoral hernia is an extremely rare surgical presentation and occurs in only 0.08–0.013% of cases as cited by the literature.

Presentation of case

A 64-year-old female presented to the Emergency Department of our hospital with acute onset of a right-sided groin bulge that occurred earlier that day after doing heavy lifting. Her workup revealed acute appendicitis contained within an incarcerated right femoral hernia. The patient underwent laparoscopic appendectomy with open femoral hernia repair. Intraoperatively, the appendiceal tip was incarcerated within the hernia sac. It was removed through the open inguinal incision after the appendix base was divided laparoscopically. Final pathology showed inflamed acute appendicitis without evidence for neoplasm.

Discussion

Physicians should be aware of the rare entity of an unusual presentation of appendicitis as well as surgical options for treatment. The literature does not conclude upon a gold standard for method of approach.

Conclusion

De Garengeot hernia remains a rare and unusual surgical presentation of femoral hernia, and complication of the case by incarceration leading to acute appendicitis provides a challenging surgical approach which should be individualized to each patient.

De Garengeot's hernia: Case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION

De Garengeot's Hernia is a rare type of femoral hernia in which the appendix is located inside the herniated sac. Diagnosis of the condition is challenging and its treatment must be performed without delay.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

We present the case of a 75-year-old patient with a femoral hernia in which an appendix with signs of inflammation was found. An appendectomy followed by hernia repair was performed under an open preperitoneal approach according to Nyhus technique. The patient did not present any complications and was discharged on the second postoperative day.

DISCUSSION

This type of hernia is often unexpected and its preoperative diagnosis is difficult to perform. In most cases the clinical picture is indistinguishable from a common incarcerated hernia. Contrast-enhanced CT is the most useful complementary test, although it is not as accurate as desirable, so the diagnosis is frequently found intraoperatively. There is a wide variety of surgical options and there is no consensus on the most appropriate one. The preperitoneal approach enables the performance of an appendectomy and subsequent hernia reparation. The use of prosthesis should be considered if there are no signs of perforation or abscess.

CONCLUSION

De Garengeot's hernia is a very rare entity. The diagnosis and subsequent surgical treatment must be early to prevent the disease progression. The preperitoneal approach should be considered as the first choice technique, as it allows the exploration of the herniated sac and the performance of surgical procedures on its content.